Sjoerd Douma is specialised in tax treaty law, EU tax law and procedural tax law. He analyses the legal instruments that states and international organisations deploy to prevent double taxation and double non-taxation, as well as the ways in which they can do so more effectively and which boundaries they must observe in doing so.

Transformation of the international tax framework

As professor, Douma will be focusing on the procedural law aspects of the transformation of the international tax framework currently taking place. What is being done about the legal protection of taxpayers? How do states resolve conflicts which may arise between them? In which ways do the new international rules affect the domestic legal systems of the states involved? These are just a few of the questions touching upon the heart of Douma's research area.

Innovating education and innovative teaching methods

Douma will also be contributing to innovating education and innovative teaching methods. He already has experience in this regard with the successful Massive Open Online Course ‘Rethinking International Tax Law’ in which by now some 40,000 students from across the world have participated, in particular students in developing countries. Douma received the Coursera ‘Learners First’ Outstanding Educator Award in 2017 for this course, as most highly appreciated lecturer of that online learning platform.

About Sjoerd Douma

Before joining the UvA, Douma was a professor at Leiden University, where his duties included heading the Honours College Law. He has also taught at various universities, among them the Université de Panthéon-Assas in Paris. He is Deputy Justice at the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal.

Douma has been a partner with the law firm Lubbers, Boer & Douma since 2017. In 2004-2017 Douma worked as a tax consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers Belastingadviseurs N.V. Prior to that he was employed by the research department of the Dutch Supreme Court.